Thanks for all your support and replies! "Mala says they've just arrived at the hotel," Melee told Joshua. "Just as soon as they've unpacked, they'll start shopping. You know the old ladies will beat you to within an inch of your life for not telling them that the hospital was releasing those two a day early. That's why they went shopping. Oh and Ano and Baby have just entered the ship." "Melee, you're not a good liar," Kirk said as he smiled. "They entered the ship three minutes ago, and are now standing behind me." "It's no use trying to keep anything secret from you," Ano said with a sigh. With a leap, Ano was on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck in a crushing embrace. Baby walked around and hugged Joshua from the front. "It's nice to finally meet the two of you face to face. And go ahead Melee, you know you want to also," With a squeal, she jumped into the fray. A normal man would have been seriously injured, if not killed by that deadly group embrace. But Joshua Kirk just laughed. "And it's good to meet you, Baby," he said in the beautiful Twi'lek's native tongue. Tel'meht just smiled and squeezed harder. He then switched back to Basic. "Both of you. Now I have all three of my new sisters here." "Well doesn't this just warm your heart!" Merrik Doon laughed, standing in the bridges entrance. The trap has been sprung Joshua thought. He could hear the kid moving up behind Merrik. Can't say we didn't warn the boy, Joshua thought. "Hi Merrik, what are you doing here?" Ano asked the Republic Intelligence officer. "I had an errand to run that brought me here. My cousin Metla with the ladies, too?" "No," Melee said. "She's in the hospital having one of these Federation doctors return her to the way she used to look. There are two of them visiting Doroub." "Good, I'll be glad to see the real Mety again," He told them with a smile. "Well, any way, the reason I'm here is there's this new kid in my crew, and I thought you girls might want to meet him." Ano glanced at Melee who rolled her eyes. "Listen Merrik, I'm sure he's a nice guy," Melee said. "But I don't know if now is a good time to try fixing us up for dates." "You sure about that?" "Yeah. Besides, you know I have a boyfriend already." "Good to hear then," Zell Orinie said with a laugh. "Because it's kind of perverted dating your own sisters." Merrik Doon quickly, and wisely, stepped out of the doorway, revealing the young man who had spoken. Melee's eyes grew large in shock. "Zell!" She shouted. Ano turned at the mention of her brothers name. Immediately, both took off like rockets. Joshua and Merrik both tensed for the collision they knew was coming. And sure enough, the sound of snapping bones, swiftly followed by a shout of pain filled the air. The sisters started crying over what they'd done to their brother. But then Zell did something no one expected: he laughed. "Hey!" The young man said as he grimaced from the pain. "I didn't tell you to stop hugging me. Just be a little gentler. You know I break easy!" "Those girls just have too much energy," Doon muttered. "Don't think I haven't tried," Kirk replied. "But they just haven't had the time to get used to how strong they've become." Melee's scream brought the other three into the passage. All three were sitting on the deck, Melee with Zell's sunglasses in her hand, a horrified expression on her face. "What's happened to your eyes?" She asked, a look of horror on her face. Zell snatched the glasses from his sister with his unbroken arm and slipped them back on. Ano put her hand on zell's shoulder to comfort him, but just got another shout of pain. "Girls," Joshua said as he stepped into the passage. "take him to the med bay. Have the droids take care of those broken bones." The young man shook his head, laughing once again. "I came to spend a couple of days with my sisters, but it looks like I'll spend them stuck in bacta casts." "Like hell!" Joshua grunted. "You'll be up and about in half an hour or so. Melee. Show your brother your right leg," Melee showed off a bruise on her thigh. "Yesterday, an R2 unit fell three meters onto that leg. And half an hour later she was walking again. So you'll be fine." The sisters carefully lifted their brother up from the deck and walked him aft. After the hatch shut behind them, Merrik let out a sigh. Turning to Baby he explained. "We tried to tell him that this exact thing would happen," The Furrene told her. "But he was dead set on meeting them this way." "What was that about his eyes?" She asked, curious. "Two years ago, Zell was caught by an agent from Imperial Intelligence asking around about his missing sisters. He had him arrested when it was discovered he was AWOL from the Academy at Carida. He tortured the boy for two weeks. When he finally decided that he knew nothing, he summoned Stormtroopers to return him to the streets. But before he did, the sick bastard took out his eyes. Said he didn't like their color." "He told you this?' Baby asked, shocked. "No," Merrik said, shaking his head. "The Stormtroopers told us. They were revolted by what he did. So they shot him and took the boy to a doctor who was suspected of being an Alliance agent. He was. He got in touch with us, and we got all of them out of there. The docs gave Zell a set of advanced mech eyes, and he decided to join us in Intelligence." "When did you find out who he really was?" the girl asked. "After he was assigned to me a week ago. You see, he joined under the name Zell Orell. But a few days ago he told us about his missing sisters Melee and Ano. We all fell out of our seats. All that work we've done helping these girls, and their brother shows up as my computer security chief. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him we not only knew where his sisters were, but that we were on our way to see them. He's been driving everyone nuts on the trip here he was so eager to see his baby sisters." Baby started to ask Merik a question, but he held his hand up, stopping her. "Yes, that's his real hair." "He's cute." Baby said smiling. "You might not say that if you saw the kid without his shirt. The scars from the torture are bad enough, but the burns from the blaster shots he took when his sisters were taken are horrorific." Doon turned and spoke to Joshua. "You know, I used to think that my hatred of the Empire couldn't get any stronger, but then I met the girls of the Super Soldier Project. And it grew. Then I met Zell, and it intensified even more." Merrik shook his head angrily, and headed for the stern. "I don't like hating that much," He called back over his shoulder as he paused at the hatch. Zell stared in amazement at his body. The scars that covered his torso were now gone. "This is just amazing. My bones have been mended, and the blaster and torture scars are gone." Melee could contain herself no longer. "Zell! You told us how you lost your eyes, now tell us how you survived the attack. When the fake pirates pulled out of there we didn't see any survivors." "That's because Father and I were the only survivors. He died a few hours later. And I would have died if it hadn't been for a ship that came by on patrol. They'd picked up a distress signal from the liner and dropped out of hyperspace." Using the force, Zell picked up his sunglasses sitting on the bed. "I saw naval personel, and Stormtroopers crying. I wonder what they would have thought if they'd known it was their own kind that did that?" Putting the glasses down, the elder Orinie lifted MU-SO 1. The droid stopped and waited patiently. "After they searched and found no other survivors, they took me back to Carrida. There I spent three weeks in an induced coma soaking in a bacta tank. The doctor told me they'd never seen anyone survive blaster wounds that bad, and that I would be permanently scarred." "Ah, Zell?" Melee muttered as she watched her brother play with the droid for a moment. "Yeah?" "Where did you learn to use the Force?" Ano asked. "Luke Skywalker." "You know Luke Skywalker?" His sisters asked as one. "Yeah. I've met him several times. He's given me quite a bit of help with the Force. I think he wants to get the Jedi back up and running. I mean, it's possible. More Jedi who survived Order 66 are coming out of hiding. Look at you two. You travel with a Jedi." "Actually," Ano said, correcting her brother. "We travel with three. Merrik's cousin Metla was a Jedi, and so was Mulk Kerrish. He used to be on the Jedi Council. But that was a few hundred years ago." Zell listened in wonder at Melee's stories about her fellow crew members. The most interesting one to him, though, was Kirk. "I like this Kirk guy," he said. "Merrik told me how this Kirk is some kind of super soldier like you. And he also told me about his special problem. I was glad to hear that he's stayed away from you and the Twi'lek girl." "My name is Arla Tel'meht," the tall girl said as she entered the med bay. "But you can call me Baby. Everyone does." Zell's eyes locked on the red skinned beauty. She was the most beautiful being he'd ever seen. And the very skimpy black outfit she now wore only made her more so. "My, Zell's speechless," Ano laughed. "Growing up, the only time he wasn't talking was when he was sleeping." Baby wasn't listening though. She was staring at the boy's chest. The sisters followed her eyes. "Why are you staring at our brothers chest so hard?" Ano asked slyly. "He doesn't have any nipples." Zell and his sisters looked at his torso in shock. "I hadn't noticed." He said. "I was just so happy to have the scars gone." MU-SO 1 told Zell that he would have to go to a hospital to have that kind of reconstructive surgery. "No," Baby said, running her hand across his torso. "I like the way he looks." Melee smiled "You two go get dressed," Zell said. "We're going out to eat. It's our twentieth birthday you know. Merrik says there's a great Twi'lek restaurant near here. Your treat. I have no money, I'm a goverment employee." "Come on you three!" Melee huffed. "The sun has almost set, and that's when the freaks come out. We don't want to miss that." Ano and Zell turned to wave, then they all ran through the blast doors of the docking bay. "I wish those two girls would take a clue from Melee, and dress a little less provocatively," Merrik said. "You and me both," Joshua said as he spied a vehicle pulling up to the blast doors. "Ah! The crew is back to finish the main deck flooring and put in the new hatch to the Rats Nest." "Yeah, what's up with that?" Merrik asked "I've hired these people before. They're usually very fast." Kirk shook his head sadly. "The daughter of their boss, Dasha Gradz, was kidnapped. They think it was slavers. Him, his sons, and his workers have been scouring the port for signs of her. I've gone out a few times with Seesha to help. The law still hasn't found her. But they don't think they've managed to get them off planet." "Them?" Merrik asked. "They think there's three more who've been taken by them. Come on, let's get back inside. It's damned hot out here." "I hear you," Doon added as they turned to go back in. "I wonder what got into Peenk, basing her ship on this hot damn planet? She hates the heat." Kirk stared at the furrene with amazed disbelief. "Great shopping!" No one noticed the surveilance droid that had been hovering over the scene. Dobo Vrick pointed at the monitor his crew was watching with greed. "That's our meal ticket. Look at those two human females. If they're not part Ratataki, then I'll kiss your ass Rock," he said to his first officer. "And girls like that are good for at least 25,000 each. Especially if they're Force sensitive," Vrick then leaned forward and leered at the image of Baby as she let Zell climb on her back to catch a ride. "But the Lethan Twi'lek is our number one target. She's a fine bit of flesh, and that Black Sun boss has a reward of 100,000 credits for a Lethan her age, with no scars." "I really want to get my hands on that young girl," The female reptilian, Deb Tara, croaked, the upper half of her face hidden by a black and red sensor hood. "I could have some fun with that one." "I'm sure you could Tara. But the red is not to be damaged or touched. The order is very clear on that point. Just the young human." "Too bad. I love a Twi." Gunder, a very large near human, slapped her on the back, something that would have floored a lesser being. She just smiled up at him. "You and me both. With what we'll make on this haul we can buy us a sweet Rutian to share." "Mmmmm," Deb moaned as she took the man's croth in her hand. "A sweet blue Twi and you? Now that's going to make up for not sampling the red." "That's enough of that, they're heading this way," Dobo laughed. "They'll walk right by our bay. It's like they're volunteering to be taken." Dobo's wife, Zinzi, lead the snatch team for the exit. "What do we do with the male?" "We only have orders for females. So we don't need him." "So no witness?" "Of course not." "Good!" she said with an evil smile on her beautiful face, her oiled skin reflecting the light. Rubbing her hairless head she laughed. "I feel the need to end a life." Dobo Vrick smirked. She really loved killing. The four were nearing the the entrance to the underground entertainment district, when Ano and Melee stopped. The Twi'lek looked to her friends. "What's wrong? Is the Force telling you something?" "There are some very bad people on the other side of that wall with some very bad intentions," Zell said. Ano turned to her sister. "What does your magic wig tell you?" "Magic wig?" Zell asked, puzzled. Ano pointed to the pink wig Melee was wearing. "That's actually an advanced sensor net. It transmits the information directly to the users brain. Melee found it and a lot of other neat toys when she raided an Imperial weapons lab. You like to fly?" "Yeah. I'm qualified to fly several kinds of ships and fighters. I'm no Wedge Antilles, but I'm not bad." "Then wait till you fly one of the Stubbies," Ano grinned at her brother before turning back to her sister. "Well Melee?" "There are five of them," Melee said over her shoulder. "Three female, two male. three are human, and two are reptilian. The human male is pretty big too. Two have blasters, though," Melee turned to the others and grinned. "Let's go say hello!" Baby and Ano cheerfully agreed. With a shrug, Baby dumped Zell back onto his feet. "Sorry lover boy, but it's time to play. And we tend to play rough." "Do you think these are those slavers that took Mr Gradz's daughter?" Ano asked. "I hope so!" Melee said, a menacing glint in her eyes. Zell stared at the three girls in amazement. They were psychos. With a grin he thought to himself, this is going to be fun. They resumed their walk. Zinzi Vrick clicked off the safety on her blaster as the others psyched themselve up for the grab. Zinzi's breathing could be heard as she became aroused at the thought of killing. You've got to love it when someone get's into their work, Deb thought. They all knew how she got after she made a kill. And they also knew that after she was done with Dobo, she would then play her way through the crew. "You all have your stunners ready?" Zinzi asked as she licked her lips lustfully. All three said yes. "Here they come," Cally said as she knelt by the wall, Slow Ro behind her. "I think they're running this...." that was as far as she got before the three girls rounded the corner and came at them. Dayvid Morss of the Darri District's port security sat at the monitor station and saw the five hiding behind the wall, waiting. "Flyers 5 and 8. This is Morss. I have five very suspicious characters outside docking bay 8, southeast." Zooming in on one of the five, he called back. "People, I think it's the Vrick gang!" "Oh hell yes!" Bastion said. "I want to get these bastards." "Make it quick," Dayvid told them quickly. "I think they're getting ready to make a grab!" "Affirmative, Stud Boy!" Lani Fortham replied. "Tell the boss lady we'll make her proud."